Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Country Environmental Analysis Public Disclosure Authorized April 2020 Public Disclosure Authorized © 2020 The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Rights and Permissions The material in this work is subject to copyright. Because the World Bank encourages dissemination of its knowledge, this work may be reproduced, in whole or in part, for noncommercial purposes as long as full attribution to this work is given. Any queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to World Bank Publications, The World Bank Group, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2625; e-mail: [email protected]. ii Table of Contents Table of Contents ..........................................................iii Boxes ..............................................................vi Tables ............................................................. vii Abbreviations and Acronyms ...............................................viii Acknowledgments ........................................................xiii Executive Summary .......................................................xvii 1. Introduction .............................................................2 2. The Cost of Environmental Degradation in Ghana .............................12 3. Air Pollution ............................................................18 4. Plastic Pollution ........................................................30 5. E-waste ...............................................................40 6. Status of Forest Resources ...............................................52 7. Land Degradation .......................................................64 8. Illegal Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (Galamsey) .....................78 9. Coastal Ecosystem .....................................................90 10. Status of Fisheries Resources ................................................. 100 11. Climate Change ........................................................112 12. Policies and Institutions ................................................ 122 13. Conclusions ...........................................................134 14. Annex ............................................................... 138 15.References ........................................................... 150 TABLE OF CONTENTS iii Figures Figure 1.1: 2017 exports (MIT Observatory of Economic Complexity database). .......................2 Figure 1.2: Resource rents as percent of Ghana GDP (World Bank WDI database). ....................2 Figure 1.3: Components of natural resource wealth per capita over time (Lange et al., 2018). ...........3 Figure 1.4: Components of national wealth per capita (Lange et al., 2018). ..........................3 Figure 1.5: Net natural resource wealth depletion (World Bank WDI database). ......................6 Figure 1.6: Adjusted savings. Natural resource depletion, Ghana vs. structural peers (World Bank WDI database). ................................................................7 Figure 1.7: Ghana population by rural-urban presence (World Bank WDI database). ...................7 Figure 2.1: Framework for mercury exposure (Poulin et al., 2008). ................................14 Figure 3.1: Rate of death associated with HAP and AAP (Global Burden of Disease database). .........19 Figure 3.2: Premature deaths (top) and illness (bottom, in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) associated with air pollution risk in Ghana (Global Burden of Disease database). .............................21 Figure 3.3: Estimated spatial distribution of annual average PM2.5 concentrations in Accra for 2014 (MESTI, 2014). ...............................................22 Figure 3.4: Estimated AAP cost per year by urban area (Estimates by authors). .....................25 Figure 4.1: Plastics value chain .............................................................31 Figure 5.1: Ghanaians using Internet (ITU, 2018). ...............................................40 Figure 5.2: Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions in Ghana (ITU, 2018). .........................41 Figure 6.1: Tree cover loss (Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA; World Database on Protected Areas (2000)) ..................................................52 Figure 6.2: Tree cover loss by region, canopy >15% (GFW database).. .53 Figure 6.3: Main activities causing forest sector emissions in Ghana (2001-2015) (MLNR, 2017a). .......55 Figure 6.4: Net forest depletion among Ghana's peers (World Bank WDI database). .................57 Figure 7.1: Soil erosion (RUSLE model) (World Bank Hidden Dimensions Dataset). ....................66 Figure 7.2: Growth of staple crops, 2008-2014 (Adapted from World Bank, 2018b). ..................66 Figure 7.3: Fertilizer consumption, Ghana vs. structural peers (World Bank WDI database). ............67 Figure 7.4: Scatterplot showing correlation between land degradation and population growth (World Bank Hidden Dimensions Dataset). ..............................................................68 Figure 7.5: GDP, poverty reduction, and GEP (GSS, 2018; World Bank WDI database; World Bank Macroeconomic Growth Accounting Tool). ....................................................68 Figure 7.6: Agroecological Zones in Ghana (World Bank, 2015). ..................................69 Figure 7.7: Governance Structure SLM and Desertification ......................................71 Figure 8.1: Key ecological hazards in the ASGM sector (Rajaee et al., 2015 with silhouettes adapted from UNEP Mercury: Time to Act (2013)). .........................................................79 Figure 8.2: Mercury (Hg) cycle in a typical artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) process (Rajaee et al., 2015). ............................................................................81 Figure 8.3: Gold Production and ASM Share (MLNR, 2017). ......................................81 Figure 8.4: The galamsey ‘employment engine’ (From Hilson and Banchirigah, 2008; Banchirigah, 2008). ......................................................................83 Figure 8.5: MDF allocation as per Minerals Development Fund Act 912 and Chapter 267 of Ghana's Constitution (Authors’ Figure). ..............................................................86 iv Figures Figure 9.1: Coastal erosion hotspots (Angnuureng et al., 2013). ..................................91 Figure 9.2: Flood risk map of Accra Metropolitan Area (City of Accra) (Centre for Remote Sensing and GIS (CERSGIS), University of Ghana, Accra, July–August 2013, cited in Amoako and Frimpong Boamah, 2015). .........................................................................92 Figure 9.3: Flood-prone areas and types of floods in Greater Accra Plains (Kagblor, 2010 cited in Amaoko and Frimpong Boamah, 2016) ......................................................92 Figure 9.4: Annual cost of coastal degradation (Compiled by authors based on World Bank, 2017a).. .93 Figure 10.1: Fish consumption in Ghana (2006-2016) (FAO database). ............................100 Figure 10.2: Origin of fish consumed, by proportion (MoFAD, 2017). ..............................101 Figure 10.3: Reported fish landings by the various fleets in the marine sector (Data obtained from MoFAD). .............................................................101 Figure 10.4: Annual catch per canoe and catch per fisherman in artisanal marine capture fisheries (Authors estimates from MoFAD data). ......................................................102 Figure 10.5: Annual mean temperature coastal sea surface (at Tema) (MoFAD, 2018). ...............103 Figure 10.6: Annual major upwelling index (at Tema) (MoFAD, 2018) ..............................103 Figure 10.7: Aquaculture and capture fish production in Lake Volta (Data obtained from MoFAD).. .104 Figure 10.8: Lost rents due to overfishing in Ghana’s marine fisheries (Authors based on Akpalu and Okyere, 2018). .........................................................................105 Figure 11.1: Number of significant flooding events by region (2000-2019) (Leftmost image) (EM-DAT database); Flood and drought severity (Middle and Rightmost images). ................... 113 Figure 11.2: Projected change in monthly temperature (left) and precipitation (right) for 2020-2039 (World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal). ............................................. 114 Figure 11.3: Estimated increased water levels in the Odaw Basin (Accra) for different climate change models and urbanization trends (World Bank, 2020). ..........................................115 Figure 11.4: GHG emissions by sector (MESTI, 2018). ...........................................116 Figure 11.5: Total GHG emissions (% change from 1990) (World Bank WDI database). ................116 Figure 12.1: Environment expenditure